A US woman who shot and killed her husband and two adult children before taking her own life is thought to have committed the shocking crime as a result of being ostracised from the religion she was raised in.

A federal judge sentenced a former Arkansas judge Wednesday to five years in prison — a stiffer punishment than prosecutors recommended — after he admitted giving young male defendants lighter sentences in return for personal benefits that included sexual favours.

Every time I tell a mate I’m doing a story on cryptocurrency, they invariably ask me the same two questions: should they invest their own hard-earned money, and which cryptocurrency will get them a Lamborghini/yacht/island quickest?

In a 60 Minutes online exclusive, reporter Liz Hayes quizzed Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on his relationship with the unpredictable Twitter aficionado and US president Donald Trump ahead of their meeting at the White House Friday.

Summer break revealed broken politics

* Abbott: The former prime minister has used Twitter, TV interviews and speeches to defend his legacy, question climate policy and take a dig at the man who took his job.

* Trump: The US president has issued executive orders like they're speeding tickets and along the way managed to spend 25 minutes on the phone with Turnbull. The PM secured his deal on Nauru and Manus Island asylum seekers, but other presidential policies have Australian bureaucrats working overtime to translate.

* State elections: The March 11 poll in WA and a likely early Queensland election mean there is no rest from campaigning. Bill Shorten has set a cracking pace, doing what he can to bolster Labor's chances of winning in WA and holding back the One Nation tide in the Sunshine State.

* Culleton: The High Court ruled the former WA One Nation senator's election invalid.

* Hanson: Pauline has been on the hustings all summer and using Trump's success to prove the political merits of xenophobia and climate denialism. The response has been a doubling of voter support in the first Newspoll of the year. Turnbull has yet to come up with a response to the One Nation juggernaut.

* Ministers: The loss of Sussan Ley in the wake of the expenses scandal meant an earlier-than-expected frontbench reshuffle. A bigger reshuffle could be expected pending Attorney-General George Brandis' deployment to London to replace high commissioner Alexander Downer.